dot

[dot]

noun

a small, roundish mark made with or as if with a pen.

a minute or small spot on a surface; speck: There were dots of soot on the window sill.

anything relatively small or specklike.

a small specimen, section, amount, or portion: a dot of butter.

a period, especially as used when pronouncing an Internet address.

Music.

a point placed after a note or rest, to indicate that the duration of the note or rest is to be increased one half. A double dot further increases the duration by one half the value of the single dot.
a point placed under or over a note to indicate that it is to be played staccato.

Telegraphy. a signal of shorter duration than a dash, used in groups along with groups of dashes and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.

Printing. an individual element in a halftone reproduction.

verb (used with object), dot·ted, dot·ting.

to mark with or as if with a dot or dots.

to stud or diversify with or as if with dots: Trees dot the landscape.

to form or cover with dots: He dotted a line across the page.

Cookery. to sprinkle with dabs of butter, margarine, or the like: Dot the filling with butter.

verb (used without object), dot·ted, dot·ting.

to make a dot or dots.

Idioms

dot one's i's and cross one's t's, to be meticulous or precise, even to the smallest detail.

on the dot, Informal. precisely; exactly at the time specified: The guests arrived at eight o'clock on the dot.

the year dot, British Informal. very long ago.

Origin of dot

before 1000; perhaps to be identified with Old English dott head of a boil, though not attested in Middle English; cf. dottle, dit, derivative of Old English dyttan to stop up (probably derivative of dott); cognate with Old High German tutta nipple

Related formsdot·like, adjectivedot·ter, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dotter

Historical Examples of dotter

You have had dotter practice, which is practically the same thing.
The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service
Frank Gee Patchin
Any woman what'd leave a po' li'l mite lak dat to perish to death ain't fitten t' be no dotter o' mine.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States
Work Projects Administration
The dotter has no business striping or ornamenting the modern cutter or sleigh.
Practical Carriage and Wagon Painting
Mayton Clarence Hillick

British Dictionary definitions for dotter

dot

noun

a small round mark made with or as with a pen, etc; spot; speck; point

anything resembling a dot; a small amounta dot of paint

the mark (˙) that appears above the main stem of the letters i, j

music

the symbol (·) placed after a note or rest to increase its time value by half
this symbol written above or below a note indicating that it must be played or sung staccato

maths logic

the symbol (.) indicating multiplication or logical conjunction
a decimal point

the symbol (·) used, in combination with the symbol for dash (–), in the written representation of Morse and other telegraphic codesCompare dit

the year dot informal as long ago as can be remembered

on the dot at exactly the arranged time

verb dots, dotting or dotted

(tr) to mark or form with a dotto dot a letter; a dotted crotchet

(tr) to scatter or intersperse (with dots or something resembling dots)bushes dotting the plain

(intr) to make a dot or dots

dot one's i's and cross one's t's to pay meticulous attention to detail

Derived Formsdotter, noun

Word Origin for dot

Old English dott head of a boil; related to Old High German tutta nipple, Norwegian dott, Dutch dott lump

dot

noun

civil law a woman's dowry

Derived Formsdotal (ˈdəʊtəl), adjective

Word Origin for dot

C19: from French, from Latin dōs; related to dōtāre to endow, dāre to give

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dotter

dot

Old English dott "speck, head of a boil," perhaps related to Norwegian dot "lump, small knot," Dutch dot "knot, small bunch, wisp," Old High German tutta "nipple;" ultimate origin unclear.

Known from a single source c.1000; the word reappeared with modern meaning "mark" c.1530; not common until 18c. Morse telegraph sense is from 1838. On the dot "punctual" is 1909, in reference to a clock dial face. Dot-matrix first attested 1975.